Harbour's coaching rock

14/5/2009

Sixteen years ago when Jack (John Brady) Medder (1949-52) hung up his coaching boots, the last thing he would have believed was being back in charge of the Harbour premier rugby side this winter.

But when the Harbour premier coach Paddy Stewart pulled out just before the season began, Jack was thrust back into the ‘‘hands on’’ role of coach after last being involved in 1993.

Jack, now 72, is the oldest coach of a premier rugby team in Dunedin, and probably the oldest in the country.

The evergreen Jack Medder

‘‘If I’m not the oldest I feel sorry for the coach who is older than me,’’ Jack told the Otago Daily Times this week.

He retired as a player in 1964 and then became a referee for nine years before beginning his coaching career with Port Chalmers in 1974. The club regained premier status when it beat Alhambra 7-3 in the promotion-relegation game in 1983. Jack coached Port Chalmers until 1986 and then took three years off when Russell Hawker filled the role.

He was back in the harness in 1990-91, being a prime mover in the amalgamation of Port Chalmers and Ravensbourne to form Harbour, before ending – or so he thought – his coaching days at the end of the 1993 season. During the last 16 years Jack has been both a supporter and administrator, and was president of the Otago Rugby Football Union in 2006.

Some would say he has mellowed with age and his approach to coaching is different. Certainly those who played against Jack’s teams well remember his fire from the touchline.

‘‘In the old days I would rant, rave and bellow and motivate the team by thumping on the table,’’ he said. ‘‘These days it’s different and I just have a quiet chat with the players.’’

He has found players today’s better educated in the basics of the game through the various coaching schools along with having a greater input into tactics.

‘‘There is a lot more consensus now,’’ he said. ‘‘I consult the senior players on tactics and training sessions. The old bull at the gate style has gone. In the old days I dominated the team but now I try to deliver what they want.’’

In his Port Chalmers days, Jack concentrated on the forwards and played a 10-man style of rugby. But he loosened up with Harbour and gave the backs a free rein, adopting the same approach this season.

‘‘My input is just to make the odd comment on what the backs should and should not be doing. I have minimal input into any of their attacking moves. The game has changed so much and I am reliant on the senior players to give me a lot of help.’’

But his approach up front hasn’t changed, where he remains insistent on the forwards doing the hard work.

‘‘If you don’t insist on the basics being done by the pack, you don’t get the results. You still need the correct techniques at the lineout, scrum and clean out.’’

In his earlier coaching days Jack would run around with the team at training.

‘‘I was a lot more active then. I can’t do that off a mobility scooter,’’ he joked.

Jack’s sons, Aaron (1978-80) and Dean (1979-81), both played premier rugby for Port Chalmers.